Guard for door-keys of fire-alarm boxes and for other things.



PATENTED JUNE 26,1906.

F. W. UOLE. GUARD FOE DOOR KEYS OF FIRE ALARM BOXES AND FOR OTHERTHINGS.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.8,1906.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIcE.

A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

FREDERICK COLE. OF NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE GAMEWELLFIRE-ALARM TELEGRAPH ooMPANroE NEW YORK, N. Y.,'

-GUARD FOR DOOR- KEYS OF FIRE-ALARM BOXES AND FOR OTHER THlNGSSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 26, 1906.

Application filed February 8:1906- Serial No. 300,064-

To all whom it ma concern: g

Be it known that FREDERroK W. COLE, of Newton, county of Middlesex,State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Guards forDoor-Keys of Fire-Alarm Boxes and for other Things, of which thefollowing descri tion, in connection with the accompanying rawings,is aSpecification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.v In the construction of fire-alarm boxes it has been commonto place aguard com rising, essentially, a glass plate over the ey,

which is left inserted in the keyhole of the door, and when the lass isbroken the key is accessible; but suc construction. of keyguard isobjectionable, for the reason that the Iperson breaking the glass andoperating the ey, is oftentimes cut by the glass when reaching in toengage and operate the key.

This mvention has for its object to construct a guard especiallydesigned toiovercome this objection. My improved guard may, however, beused for other urposes that is to say, to cover and there y protectother things besides. the door-keys of firealarm boxes. My inventionconsists, essentially, in a guard comprising or consisting, essentially,of a self-openin door having a glass or other kind of frangible plateand means engaging said plate for holdmg said door closed. The door maybe made self-opening by pivotin it at its lower end insuch manner thatit drop by gravity when released, or an actuate ing-spring may beprovidedwhich bears upon a or against the door and which operates to;

open the door when permitted so to act, or

ractice both of the aforesaid means or forces or opening the door may beemployed to provide against either means or force failing to act at theroper time.

The means or engaging the glass plate for sists .of a

projection either on the part to which the oor is pivoted or on someother st'ationarily-supported part, which is so constructed and arrangedas to directly or indirectly enga e said plate, so that whenever theplate ls broken the door will'be released and permitted to openautomatically. I So far as the means for engaging the plate is concernedI desire it to be understood that any means for engaging the glass latewhich when the plate is broken will re ease. a selfopening door comeswithin the spirit and see e of my invention.

, y invention also consists in means for engaging the glass plate forthe pu ose of holdmg the door closed, which is a a ted to be operated bya suitable. key, where the ins ector may open the door without reakmgthe glass. 1

Flgure 1 shows in front elevation my improved guard applied to afire-alarm box of ordinary construction and coverin ,and'

The guard herein shown for the purpose of 1 illustrating one practicalform or embodiment of my invention consists of a shell or case a, ofsuitable shape to surround a ke b thing to be covered and a door a,pivoted to said shell or case a. The shell or case a, is ada ted to berigidly secured to the door (t o the fire-alarm box,

, and hence may be made as a art of said door 03, if desired. 4 Thedoor- 0 1s hinged to the shell or case a or other fixed member at itslower end, as at c, and whenclosed occupies an u right position and'thepivots are set well back, so that the weight of the door is essentiallyin front of said ivot. By so ivoting the door it will be 0 served that wen the door is released it will drop by gravity, being thereby self-oenin'g. Aflat spring c is secured tothe she l or' case a,-tl1e outer orfree end of which bears upon the lower edge or part of the door, theaction of which is to open the door whenever the door is released.

- of a fire-alarm box or it may be any ot er and thereby protected,

While I have herein shown two means ory forces for o ening the 'doorautomatically whenever it is released, I desire it to be understood thatI may employ either one of these means or forces to t e exclusion of theother; but in practice I prefer to employ both sea i1 1 to limit myinvention to pivoting the door at its lower end, as it is obvious thatit may be otherwise pivoted and adapted to be automatically opened by aspring whenever it is released.

The door 0, as herein shown, is made as a quadrangular or other shaedframe and contains a g assplate d, whic is adapted to be broken forthe purpose of releasing the door, and hence said door is so constructedas to provide for the easy renewal of the plate d, and, as herein shown,said frame is provided with guideways c at its opposite sides, adaptedto receive the plate (1, and with a lug c at its lower end, 11 on whichthe lower edge of the plate rests w on properly disposed. in the frame,and said frame is provided at its up per end with a recess 0 next theglasspl-ate d, which is adapted to receive a projection e, whichwhencontained said recess will overlie and thereby engage the glass plate(1, and thereby hold the door closed. The manner of providing for theeasy renewal of the plate 11 is immaterial so far as my invention isconcerned, although the articular manner herein shown possesses avantages on account of its simplicity of construction and eflectivemanner of holding the plate.

As herein shown, the guideways for the plate extend to the top of theframe or there about, and the glass plate is introduced at the top ofthe frame, and when the door is closed said plate will rest by gravityon the lug c andwhen the door is open said glass plate or any brokenportions thereof have not previously fallen out will be free to slidedownward and leave the frame. The pro'ection e, which engages the plated'to hell the door closed, is arranged atthe to of the shell or case a,or it may be arrange on some other part which is stationary with respectto the seli-opening door and, as herein shown, is made movable into andout of position to engage the plate (2, and a suitable key is adapted tobeinserted in a keyhole e, (see dotted lines, Fig. 2,) for the purposeof mov- -ingsaid projection c, said key being provided for the use ofinspectors who desire to open the door without breaking the glass. Itwill be seen that the projection 2 thus serves as a means for engagingthe plate d and that it is arranged in the shell. or case a, which thusserves as a stationary member or support for it but I desire it to beunderstood that I may employ any other means for engaging the platedirectly orindirectly in lieu of the projection c herein shown for thepurpose of holding the self-opening door having the glass plate inclosed position against the action of the means provided for openingsaid door. In view of the fact that the shell or case a, may be formedas a part of the door 03 or as a part of any other member which isstationary with respect to the self-opening door it will be seen thatthe guard proper consists, essentially, of the self-o ening door, whichis prevented from opening yfa piece of glass.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Let ters Patent, isr l. A guard consisting of a self-openingdoor having a glass plate, and means, engagin said plate, for holdingsaid door closed, so. stantia-lly as described.

' 2. A guard consisting of a door having a glass plate, a spring foropening said door, and means, engaging said plate, for holding said doorclosed, substantially as described.

3. A guard consisting of a door having a glass plate, and constructedand arranged to open by gravity, and means, engaging said plate, forholding said door closed, substantially as described.

4. A guard consisting of a door pivoted at its lower end and having aglass plate, and means, engaging said late, for holding the door closed,substantia ly as described.

5. A guard consisting of a door comprising a frame having guideways atits opposite sides, and a log at its lower end, a glass plate supportedby said frame, and means for engaging said plate for holding the doorclosed, I

substantially as described.

6. A guard consisting of a self-opening door having a glass late, and aprojection, which engages said p late and holds the door closed,substantially as described.

7. A guard consisting of a self-opening door having a glass plate, and amovable projection, which engages said plate and holds the door closed,said projection being movable into and out of engagement with the plate,substantially as described.

. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

FREDERICK W. COLE. ll itnessesz B. J. Novas, H. B. DAvrs.

ICC

